In Trinidad and Tobago this is a must herb to have in our refrigerator. It is used to make our famous green seasonings, to make chows etc.
Early in 2019 before I traveled to my home country Trinidad and Tobago, I had a beautiful culantro plant which I was so proud off. I told my husband to take care of my plant but…. When I returned, my plant was dead. I was very upset.
I posted a request for a plant on Facebook and I got a few. Now this herb is known by many names. Such as Bandania, shado beni, recao, culantro, chadon beni
Now there is cilantro and culantro. I recently found out that its two different herbs and not a misspelling. Some people say that they are similar in taste but I tend to disagree. In my opinion, cilantro looks a bit like celery and has a sort of burning sensation to the taste.
Some time ago, I purchased this cilantro thinking I was getting celery, I was making a Sweet Potato Salad. While eating the potato salad, I experienced this burning sensation in my mouth – to say the least I did not enjoy my potato salad. Culantro does not have that burning sensation, it is pleasant experience eating this herb, the aroma is amazing and the taste is mild.
So lets get to how to grow this herb at home. I was asked if the seeds can be purchased online – on Amazon maybe. Yes the seeds are sold on Amazon but when I read the reviews, I realized many people did not have positive experiences in getting the seeds to grow.
In this photo below, the culantro has flowers and between you will see the seeds. The flowers can be cut from the stem, doing so will allow the plant to grow more leaves. Pick off the seeds and place in a cool area to dry. When dried, sprinkle the seeds in some soil on the ground or a seed starter tray and as the seeds to grow and get bigger, you can transplant them to bigger planter pots!!! You can also allow seeds to dry on plant without cutting the flowers and pick off the dry seeds at the appropriate time
Check out my blog post in which I share my story about the green iguanas eating my shado beni plants. CLICK HERE
I love culantro. I grow it in my
greenhouse in Poland (Europe).
Marek
http://www.canna.pl
Awesome! Thank you for taking the time to check out my website and leaving a comment. I am currently trying to grow more of these plants.
You write like I do! Spooky!
Thank you for your articles. They are very helpful to me. May I ask you a question?